Sleep:
Eleanor sleeps from 6:15 PM to about 6:45 AM. It's pretty consistent. She wakes around 11 PM and again around 4 AM for milk. Sometimes she's extra hungry and wakes at 11, 2 and 5 but it's the same brevity as always--about 5 min or less. It will be pretty easy to night wean when we're ready. She's not much of a crier. I'm thinking I'll wait till after she's used to her new school arrangement.
I can't believe how much quicker the 9 months came with her than it did with Henry. I counted the days till 9 mos with him (per my sleep books which recommend not letting them cry till 9 mos) and it took till 10 months to succeed and now with her it hasn't been that rough (the sleep deprivation) and here we are, almost 9 mos. I mean, don't get me wrong--I'm pretty tired of being woken up at night but since I know there will not be any more babies I am just dealing.
I've also noticed that with second (read: last) babies my other mom-friends are pretty mum about sleep. It's like an obsession with the first baby. It's all we talked about back then. Now we're like soldiers on a second tour. We have perspective. We know it won't last. It would be great to get a solid 8 hours but we know it's not happening right now. Now is not forever. What else is there to say? I would have slapped someone if they said this to me back in my Henry baby days. Sleep deprivation hurts when you're not used to it. It really is torture. But this time around my eyes don't even burn when I'm woken up. I don't feel resentment towards E, either. I just feel happy I get to snuggle with her in the quiet. She holds my hand and her little baby sounds are the greatest. I play with her hair, rub her back. I can say without a doubt, I will miss our nighttime feedings (again, slappings would have come if I read this during the Henry night feeding-era).
Naps : I remember with Henry we were on an EXACT schedule. 9:00 and 1:00. And I rocked him for up to 20 min sometimes to get him to fall asleep. He dropped his 3rd nap by now but E still takes one 3 times a week, approx. Usually she takes a nap around 9, give or take 30 min. and again around 12:30, give or take 30 min. The morning nap is either 1 hour or two hours. And the afternoon nap is either one hour or two hours. If she takes a third nap it's 30-40 min and does not affect her bedtime. With Henry I followed the clock and with her I follow her sleep cues.
Our nap routine is I turn on the air filter and the ceiling fan for white noise, draw the curtain, and I put her in her crib with her paci and blanket and that's it. She rolls over and buries her face in her blanket. If she does not do that right away, I hold her and rock in the rocking chair for a min. and try again.
Food: Mama's milk when she wakes and a bit later some O's soaked in almond milk or just dry. Yogurt maybe. Some fruit. Lunch is usually something like blueberries, grapes, tofu, crackers etc. and mama milk and dinner is cottage cheese, squash or beans or sweet potato or some kind of veg. Maybe avocado. She has snacks too but it's just some variation of above, just in a smaller amount. She nurses about 3-4 times during the day, plus the 2-3 times at night. She likes to drink water from a sippy cup. Probably about 2-5 oz a day depending on how much we're outside.
No comments:
Post a Comment